HappyNewYear?
by Tori Yuki Ichimura
Summary: The really, INSANELY late author fic I promised! A New Years part at Tori's seems simple enough, but when authers get involved, is anything really simple? -__- Someone buy me a calendar. That, or something that'll kick me in the ass whenever I pull this c
1. Gettin' It Started!

**Tori: **It's that time of year again!

**Kegawa: **…February?

**Tori: **O__o What the sneaker mouse are you talking about? 

**Awa: ***mouths silently* sneaker mouse…?

**Tori: **… … …it is February… isn't it?

**Kegawa: ***rolls eyes* No, go back to sleep…

**Awa: **Is that wise? She might not wake up until April.

Oh yeah…And a VERY belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

*reallyobscenelyhugesweatdrop*

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**Getting Ready!**

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             "LYRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Tori cried, flinging herself against the front door to the small house they were staying in while in the US. "Open this door…" she sobbed over-dramatically and slid to the ground, back against it, bags of groceries in her arms.

            The door swung open quite suddenly and the unprepared Asian girl fell backwards into the foyer. "Fan Service, No Da! The fans order and we deliver!"

            Lyra blinked down at Tori a few times, kicked her soundly in the head and walked back into the house.

            "Uhhhh…"

            The near-comatose girl's eyes slid along the ground until she spotted a pair of polished brown shoes. Her gaze trailed from them up a pair of khakied legs, to a torso sporting a dark grey vest open over a lighter grey sweater, and finally to a fair face adorned by a pair of glasses.

            "Er, I'm glad I came early," Andrew Joshua Talon grinned and offered her a hand, which she gratefully accepted.

            "Yeah. Any later and I might have been dead," Tori replied as they gathered up the spilled groceries.

            "Well, I thought you might need some help…"

            The two stepped inside and Tori kicked the door shut behind them. They carried the full paper bags into the kitchen and were fully intent on putting them on the counter, but it was completely cluttered with all manner of baking goods and loose flour.

            "Be gone! The Iron Chef is working!" Stanton frowned and made little shooing motions at the two.

            The couple merely exchanged looks and deposited their burdens on the floor.

            "Ya'know, Stanton… Whatever you're making better be damn good. You're making a mess out of my kitchen."

            "At least it's not on fire, flooded, filled with smoke, or inhabited by small, scavenging animals," the American student frowned, dusting his floury hands over the sink and turning to check the items in the oven. "Like it usually is when you cook," he tacked on tastefully and turned again to face them, a smug grin on his face.

~*~*~*~*~*~

**The Guests Arrive!**

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            _Ding dong! _

The doorbell rang and everyone in the house jumped. Lyra glanced at the clock.

"NYAAAAAAAHHHH! __ Nine o'clock already!? SOMEBODY GET THE DOOR!!!"

Talon rolled his eyes and strolled into the foyer. He placed his hand on the knob, but it swung open on it's own accord.

"Hey, buddy!" Duo Maxwell grinned and mock-saluted. He stepped inside, escorting a smiling brown-haired girl. "AJ, this is my friend Kate! Ya probably know her as, uh…"

"Sailor Aurora Helios?" Kate suggested.

"Yeah, that or Tejina-Chan. Oh, and before you say anything, I've received FULL permission from the _significant other_."

The shorter teen nodded, a bit bewildered by the speed at which three different conversation topics had been covered in full by one person.

"Hey, guys!" Tori greeted, appearing behind Talon.

"Hey, small Japanese girl!"

"…"

"What!? I thought we were being informal and not politically correct?"

"Learned some big words in college there, huh?"

"Maybe they seem big to you, shorty."

"…close the front door, dimwit."

The braided boy bowed mockingly and slammed the door shut.

"Well… Wasn't that lovely…" came a muffled male voice from outside.

Hesitantly, Duo opened it again.

"Heeey… If it ain't Taro M.D.!"

"Taro?" Talon perked up a bit and sidestepped so Duo could open the door wider. The British man and his wife stepped inside, shrugging off their coats. Tori gathered theirs and the earlier pair's and walked off to deposit them somewhere.

"Bloody cold out there," Taro frowned and ruffled his blonde hair to remove the first few snowflakes of the night that had invariably landed on his head. "Oh! Mina, this is Mr. Andrew Joshua Talon, a close friend of mine! The guy with the hair is Duo Maxwell, and… Care to introduce us, Shinigami?"

Duo smiled, brimming with politeness. "Mina, it's a pleasure to meet you. This lovely lady right here is Kate, my date for tonight."

Kate smiled warmly and wiggled her fingers in a shy wave.

"Where's the crazy lady?"

"Duet's at home. See, she's convinced chronologists have miscalculated the millennium and that we're actually going into 2001 tonight and that the apocalypse is at hand so she must spend the night in fervent prayer."

"She got a new DVD, didn't she?"

"Two new _Paradise Kiss_ manga actually. She'll be here around 10:30."

"You ARE aware you're marrying a clinically insane woman, are you not?"

"Yes."

"Good. Just checking."

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S enough of that! Go stuff your faces in the living room, you two. Tori's getting bored with dialogue." Tori shooed them all through the kitchen into the den.

Talon was convinced, with minimal violence, to answer the door, so the hosts, procrastinating and indefinitely slow people that they are, could finish preparing the food. 

The couples filed in slowly… Trowa and Sarah, Tia and Bakura, Heero and Alisha, Lilian and Wu Fei, Jenn with Quatre, Frodo and Lucia… Not even half the guests were present and things were already getting crowded.

A limousine screeched to a halt outside and Nueva, escorted by none other than Milliardo Fine-Hunk-O-Ass Peacecraft, stepped gracefully over the threshold a few minutes later. Talon was relieved to see another old friend.

"Andrew! It's been a while!" Nueva hugged the younger boy and smiled.

"Well, we've all been so busy lately… It doesn't look like things are going to lessen up either. Taro's got another Tribute to the Music concert in the works and-"

"T2M? It's back!?"

Talon nodded slowly.

"I don't know whether to shout for joy or crawl into a corner and cry…"

"I can't wait. Everyone had so much fun last year."

"Year… Such a huge word. It's hard to believe that much time's gone by. And our clan… It's grown so much, and aged so well…"

"Save the nostalgia for when the ball drops, darling…" Milliardo smiled. Nueva promptly elbowed him in the gut, handed Talon her coat, and walked off to the living room.

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**Everybody's Here!**

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            Talon scanned the guest list one last time, making sure he hadn't missed anyone before he left his post to join the rest of the party. Legolas and Emerin, Cat Youkai and Demoness, Duet-Sama and Treysor… Looked like everyone was present and accounted for. He checked his watch. Ten-thirty. What a waste of an hour and a half

            He made his way into the living room where Nueva and Taro were catching up over a few drinks and Sarah was snuggled up on the couch between Trowa and Duo watching _Armageddon_. Heero stood near the doorway, talking with Alisha and Mina… Lucia was trying to explain her date to Duo ((because Duo is voluntarily illiterate when it comes to Tolkien)) who was in the middle of his own "snuggling" session with Kate… But where was Tori?

            Sighing tiredly, Talon dipped into the alcohol-free punch bowl, courtesy of Quatre, and walked off to find a more exciting conversation.

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**Big (not so big) Surprise!**

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            "Tori! The cake's ready!" Stanton yelled up the steps to the upstairs.

            "Hurrah," Tori replied half-heartedly and tramped down the stairs, dusting her hands on her khakis. She followed him into the kitchen and her mouth fell open.

            "Stan… You ARE aware there is a giant hole in the middle of the cake…are you not?"

            "Yeah. It's so you can sit in there until you're ready to jump out," the American replied without missing a beat.

            "Honto?"

            "No… Actually, I just wanted to be different. I'm filling it with chocolate mousse and Redi Whip."

            "Honto?"

            "Yes, really. Now, go mingle."

            "Wait! Stanton… Lyra… I've come to a conclusion."

            "What?" they growled in unison. The Asian girl swallowed hard.

            "There are…too many people. I can't keep up with everyone in this fic!"

            "…tough waffles." Lyra crossed her arms. "We need to get this party STARTED!"

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**Tori: **Wow… I'm only three months late… And I don't even have the whole thing… Fucker.

**Ke: **Half a fic is better than no fic…I guess.

**Tori: **Sooo pissed at myself right now. How could I forget to bring this disk!?

**Awa: **Making excuses?

**Tori: **No, not really… There is no excuse for my ignorance, laziness, and general disregard for deadlines, especially if they're REALLY HARD TO IGNORE deadlines… *bows* I am very sorry.


	2. MATE! IIE OWARI!

More to come! And I'm aware that some authors are not mentioned in the first chapter. You have not been forgotten! ((O__O I'm so sorry for giving you that impression, Stephanie! T__T I could never forget about one of the guild girls!))  
  
As for some of the strange couples. *points to Duo* BLAME THE BRAIDED ONE! I asked him for suggestions.Which was foolish. Then I used his suggestions.which was also foolish. ¬___¬  
  
O__O Just please don't kill me, Taro-san. *bows deeply* 


End file.
